1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to domestic appliances and, more particularly, to an improved control panel assembly for use in such appliances.
2. Description of the Related Art
Domestic appliances typically include a control panel which extends upwardly from a rear or back upper surface of an appliance cabinet. The control panel includes a faceplate which provides apertures through which extend shafts or stems of various rotary or push-button control instruments. These shafts or stems usually have snap fit thereon a control knob or pushbutton cap which is engaged by the user to actuate or adjust the control instrument and thereby control the operation of the appliance.
It is important from an aesthetic point of view that the control instruments consistently align with the faceplate apertures so that the resulting appliances have an attractive and uniform appearance. However, during development of control panels, alignment of the control instruments with the faceplate apertures has been problematic.
In one known prior art domestic appliance, an instrument mounting plate is provided beneath the control panel faceplate and serves as a base or support for control instruments which are mounted thereto. The mounting plate extends the entire width of the control panel and is attached at opposite ends to a control panel trim wrapper which underlies the faceplate and forms the exterior top and lateral sides of the control panel. After the mounting plate, including the control instruments mounted thereto, is attached to the panel trim wrapper, the control panel faceplate is placed over the mounting plate such that the stems or shafts provided by the control instruments extend through the faceplate openings.
The aforementioned prior art control panel assemblies suffers from several deficiencies or shortcomings which limit or reduce its desirability. For example, the prior art control panel assembly is dependent upon the faceplate and instrument mounting plate being exactly manufactured. Otherwise, the control instrument shafts will not perfectly align with the center of the holes in the faceplate. Since there is no direct physical relationship or connection between the mounting plate and the control panel faceplate, and due to machining tolerances and imperfections, the shafts have a tendency to not align with the center of the faceplate apertures, resulting in a nonuniform and sloppy appearance. Moreover, with an assembly of the aforementioned type, the control appliances or devices are only accessible via the rear of the appliance, increasing the time and labor required to repair or replace the control instruments.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for an improved control panel assembly which positively indexes or locates the control instruments relative to the control panel faceplate such that alignment between the control instruments and the apertures in the faceplate is assured. Moreover, there exists a need in the art for an assembly of the aforementioned type wherein the control instruments are accessible from a front of the appliance.